Chapter 253

They'd been aware of this situation for ages. Yet when Giselle brought it up again, Sabrina still broke into a delighted smile. Selene, however, kept her nose buried in her textbook, showing zero reaction.

Helena mirrored her daughter's indifference.

It was as if Camille Hartwell had become utterly insignificant to them.

Noticing Giselle was about to continue chattering, Helena said coolly, "Giselle, Selene's studying. Don't distract her."

"Oh—"

Giselle shot a glance at Selene, who was absorbed in her reading. "Didn't the tutor come this morning? It's past five already, and she's still hitting the books. Just watching her exhausts me. Aren't you tired, Selene?"

Sabrina chimed in, "Of course she is. But she's ambitious. I've always told you to learn from her, but you never listen."

Then, with a sugary smile, she added, "But Selene, as crucial as hard work is, you should take proper breaks. Why don't you come have a snack first?"

Without lifting her eyes, Selene replied, "No need. Damien invited me to dinner. I'll leave after this."

After wrapping up her gaming session, Camille returned to the Hartwell residence and spent three solid hours polishing her thesis. Once satisfied, she emailed it to Graham.

Stretching her stiff muscles, she headed downstairs—only to find her grandmother standing at the front door in the dead of winter, seemingly waiting for someone.

Camille frowned and hurried over. "Granny, you—"

Before she could finish, the sound of tires crunching on gravel cut her off.

Just as she reached the doorway, a car pulled into the driveway. Moments later, Chloe burst out of the vehicle. "Mom! Granny!"

"Oh, my darling!" Marianne's eyes crinkled with joy as she bent down, arms wide open.

Chloe had initially been running toward Camille, but upon seeing her great-grandmother's gesture, she pivoted and hugged Marianne first.

"Have you eaten? Are you hungry?" Marianne asked.

"Dad and I had dinner out, so I'm full." After answering, Chloe wriggled free and tiptoed toward Camille. "Mom, hug me!"

Camille scooped her up. Though she caught a faint whiff of perfume clinging to her daughter's clothes, her expression didn't flicker.

This time, Damien hadn't bothered to drop Chloe off personally.

The car door had been left ajar, so the driver stepped out to close it before nodding respectfully to Camille and Marianne. Then he drove away.

With school the next day, Chloe didn't stay up late. After her bath, she went straight to bed.

Camille tucked her in, then grabbed her phone and fired off a text to Damien:

"Have the driver pick Chloe up tomorrow afternoon. And stop dropping her at my place without notice."

Damien didn't respond.

The next morning, after seeing Chloe off to school, Camille headed to work. Only then did Damien finally reply:

"Okay."

Camille read the message, set her phone aside, and dove into her tasks.

Two days flew by, and the weekend arrived.

On Saturday morning, Camille received Graham's reply: "No issues. Ready for submission."

It had been weeks since she'd last seen Gabriel or Graham.